


Jussipo's Journal

by salmon_ella



Category: The Letter for the King (TV)
Genre: I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Love Poems, M/M, Not Beta Read, Random & Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23539693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salmon_ella/pseuds/salmon_ella
Summary: Piak gives Foldo Jussipo's journal, and Foldo reads it. And boy, is it sappy as all hell.
Relationships: Foldo/Jussipo (The Letter for the King)
Comments: 58
Kudos: 83





	1. I Used to Hate Nicknames

**Author's Note:**

> These poems are written be me, myself, and I so don't expect them to be good lmao.

So many thoughts race through Foldo's mind each day, none of them good.

It's been months, and Jussipo's death has taken a toll on everyone. His family was the worst off, of course, but Foldo was just as bad.

He sulked half the time and slept the other. Even when he trained, it only reminded him of Jussipo. How his hair perfectly framed his face whenever he sung- god could that boy sing. The way melodies reverberated out around them when he did, oh it was like magic.

But Jussipo wasn't here to sing anymore, nor was Foldo able to share secret kisses with him during the night.

If only they had both lived. Foldo found himself toying with the thought before quickly shutting it down.

No. 𝘕𝘰. Jussipo was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. He would just have to grieve with it like everyone else. Besides, Piak had it worse than him, and he seemed to be dealing with it remarkably well-

"Sir, you mustn't go in there! That is a restricted area! Sir!" Speak of the devil... Piak usually comes for visits to check up on Foldo. 

In the months that it has been since his knighthood, he grew up. Something about it sobered him, kept him going. No one talks about the sudden change in demeanor.

In came Piak, ducking under the guard's arm and pushing the door open. He smiled triumphantly.

"I'm sorry, sir," The guard was blubbering his apologies, "he's just so slippery..."

"Piak can stay, it's all right." Foldo states with an air of false authority. He hated them doting on him.

"Oh no, I'm not staying. Just came to drop this off." Only then did Foldo notice them book Piak was holding up. It struck a chord within Foldo. He had seen that book somewhere, hadn't he?

Piak placed it on Foldo's bed before saying, "Found it while we were cleaning the house-" His eyes widen, "- that reminds me, I still got work to do! I'll be back, Foldo!" And with that, he rushed out.

Tentative to pick it up Foldo was swimming with questions. Why did they want him to have this? Why was Piak so anxious to get back to work when he hated chores? And Foldo could have sworn up and down that he has seen this before. So why couldn't he remember where?

Opening the book, he found that it wasn't a book, but a journal. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘰'𝘴 journal. His breath hitched.

This felt like an invasion of privacy. Jussipo never let anyone look in this. Not Piak, not him, no one. 

But now here it is, tantalizingly sitting right in front of him. A little peek never hurt anyone, did it?

With trembling fingers, Foldo flipped to the first page. He didn't dare read, not yet. It felt too... too sacred. Like Jussipo was still there, hovering over him, taunting Foldo to open his eyes and look down.

So he did. A quick look was what he promised himself. Just the first paragraph. But what he saw was something he could have never expected, and he was enraptured.

"I used to hate nicknames. I used to hate people telling me what to do. But I realized something... I dont hate it, as long as it's from you." Foldo's eyes widened. Who was this about? Surely it couldn't be about him? This journal was giving him more questions that it was answering, but Foldo read on.

"You keep up my hope all day, everyday. That one day, I'll be yours. 

"Free to be who I am without repercussion is a luxury I have yet to obtain. But when I'm with you, I feel as if I could kill Viridian with my bare hands." 

The entry doesn't say who it's about. There's no date either, but he knew about Viridian at this point, so it had to have been when they were traveling.

Immediately, Foldo's mind went to the kiss the two had shared. Surely Jussipo wasn't alluding to him... right? Foldo couldn't handle all these questions. How was it that one boy could cause so much to stir within him? He was about to read on when a guard knocked at his door.

"Sir? There's someone out here who wants to see you. She says her name is Lavinia."

Hiding the journal so she didn't see, Foldo answered, "Let her in, thank you." 

The journal would have to wait.


	2. Queen Alianor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foldo reads more of Jussipo's journal and gets hit with feels (TM).

Lavinia leaves and Foldo is willing himself calm, not wanting to give up this secret just yet.

He stares as she closes the door, before lunging over to the journal and clinging to it like a lifeline. It did feel like one, after all, what with this being the last time between Jussipo and the world. Buzzing with anticipation, he skims the first page again until skipping to the second.

Swallowing down his feelings, Foldo begins to read. 

"You play hide-n-seek with me, and act like you're the prize. Honestly, I would agree with you, but with your family I wouldn't think it wise.

"So please, I beg of you, don't play tug-of-war. Not with my heart, I know it can't take much more.

"It beats for you, you hear? Calling. Beckoning, for the hope of kisses it holds so dear."

Foldo set the journal down onto his pillow with guilt encompassing the movement.

He wasn't- he would never...

Did he? What did Jussipo mean? Thinking back on things only made Foldo feel worse. 

Their interactions had always been friendly, teasing. Even- and Foldo blushes at this thought- flirty, from time to time.

Oh. Oh no.

So the entries were about him, weren't they. Him. Foldo. He hadn't thought he meant anything to Jussipo, not even after that night...

Foldo was shaking now, with anxiety or grief he could not say. But he needed air nonetheless. Needed to go, run, fight, do anything to take his mind off the journal and the thoughts that came with it.

Without another word, Foldo raced off and into the wood surrounding the castle.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Foldo sat by a large pond, engulfed in tall grass and dandelions, throwing pebbles into the water. He pretended they were all the persistent questions tumbling through his brain.

"Do you mind if I sit with you? I would not want to intrude, Sir Foldo." Turning around, Foldo was met with the queen standing before him. He hastily jumped to his feet and bowed.

"Your majesty, my deepest apologies, I hadn't realized you were here." Foldo felt his face flush, but the queen merely laughed.

"It is quite all right, dear. There is no need for formalities now." Queen Alianor gave Foldo a motherly smile. "Sit with me."

It didn't sound like a command, but Foldo sat anyway. Although, the queen was more preoccupied with the tadpoles in the shallows than Foldo, it seemed.

He still wasn't going to relax.

"Something is troubling you, I presume." Alianor stated, trying- and failing- to snatch up a tadpole. Eyebrows furrowing, Foldo shot a glance at her. "It is best to get your worries out now, while no one with prying ears can hear."

Her eyes were warm as was her voice. There was no malice in her tone, and Foldo detected wisdom lay there instead.

"Well... I-uh-I'm just a little confused," he started, and the queen went back to observing the baby frogs. Foldo tried again, "my friend he... died a little while ago. And I can't seem to... to..." Foldo's mind refused to finish that sentence, but Alianor put a wet yet comforting hand on his arm. Her eyes wrinkled.

"Sir Piak's brother? Yes, I remember him. Very kindhearted. Noble. He was a good man." Her tone was sympathetic, but Foldo could tell her mind was wrapped in it's own tragedy.

"May I give you a piece of advice?" He nodded his head, allowing her to continue, "I will be honest, I doubt anyone can overcome the adversity of losing a loved one, but grieving never did them good. They felt, of course. They felt the pain and anguish that came with this burden, but the most important thing- the bravest thing- someone can do in this predicament?" She looked at Foldo expectantly. He just stared back.

"Live, Foldo. The answer is live."

Both were quiet for a moment, and then Queen Alianor went on. "Living is the only thing you can do. Foldo, you do not let go of that person, no. Instead, you grow from it, make yourself stronger. Use the grief and turn it into life.

"You mustn't move on, nor forget, but make sure the dead did not die for nothing. That is what is most important to the dead; the fact that the ones they lived for live on."She said it with an air of finality, like she had experience to go along with her words.

Just then, bells chimed 6 times in the distance, and Alianor managed to get hold of a wriggly, startled tadpole in her grasp before releasing it.

"I had better get back to my duties, I would not want to worry the guards," she said with a wink. "That was a nice talk we had Foldo, do not forget what I said, yes?" And with that, she left Foldo to himself once again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

When Foldo returned to his chambers, he found a folded note perched on top of Jussipo's journal. 

It read, in tiny, fluttery handwriting, "It is not a crime to feel, Foldo. But living is what makes the world spin."

Placing the note back down, he exhaled.

Live, huh? How was he supposed to do that? Jussipo was what made life worth living in the first place. His charisma, his laugh, the way he talked like he had all the knowledge in the world and he knew it.

Queen Alianor was wrong. Those little things that made Foldo fall in love with Jussipo? Those are what made the world spin.

Foldo felt the tears rolling down his face and dropping onto his hands before he even registered he was crying. And once it did, it only made him cry harder. Shoulder heaving sobs wracked his body, and he let them.

He wept for all the times he missed out on kissing Jussipo. Wept for all the missed shared glances whenever Tiuri was planning on doing something idiotic, and for talks they never got to have.

Foldo wept for lost opportunity- for Jussipo- until there were no tears left. Exhausted he dried his face and promptly fell into a dreamless sleep. 

He would be tossing and turning all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer chapter, but on a good note I have an idea of where I want to go with this story, so I'll be updating daily. Thanks for reading!


	3. Young Foldo's Heart Was Purring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foldo's still suffering. That's it. That's the whole chapter, really.

As Foldo wakes, he can't help but notice how calm and quiet everything is. He hates silence. After Jussipo died, it was just a reminder of how he's no longer there, not next to Foldo.

He ambled over to the dresser where the note was placed on the journal. Picking up the note, he read it again. And again. Foldo read that little piece of scrap paper so many times he lost count.

The sound of the memory sent shivers down his spine and echoed in his brain.

𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘰. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

Puffing out one last breath, Foldo opens the journal.

"His eyes sparkle like the water whose depths keep its bodies hidden. Skeletons of the hope that used to be.

"There are secrets locked inside you, just waiting to be set free. So I beg of you, let me be your key.

"I want to hold your hand through lands of monsters, and talk with you all night.

"I want to hold you 'til your mind goes dark. And all fear subsides to light.

"The boogeyman has no effect on you, not while I am here. But all he ever really wants to do is whisper nothings in your ear.

"Nothing is as bad as it seems, as long as I can hold you close. "As long as I have you close, Foldo."

His eyes were owlish and glossy as the journal went limp in his hand. He felt numb, or like vomiting. He couldn't quite tell.

But still, he gathered his courage and swallowed his pride, burying it. He turned the page over.

"His looks were so alluring, young Foldo's heart was purring.

"And the love between them lasted 'til the grave." Under the entry was a series of words, all rhyming with alluring. Foldo gave a bittersweet smile.

He didn't forget.

After mild contemplation about whether or not he would keep reading (it still felt like an invasion of privacy), he didn't expect to see Arman, Lavinia, and Tiuri all standing at his door, panting heavily.

Lavinia spoke first, "Piak said he gave Jussipo's book to you. Is that true?" Foldo nodded and the two knights sighed in relief.

"Great, now come with us, we haven't much time. Bring his journal." Foldo narrowed his eyes at the trio.

"Why?"

"We just need to, Foldo. We can't explain it all right now."

"Why not? Piak gave the journal to me, so it mustn't have been too important."

"Goddammit, Foldo! Just come with us already, innocent people's lives are at stake here!" Foldo's mind immediately went to the Red Riders. Queen Alianor must have failed in keeping them docile.

Standing up with the journal in hand, Foldo simply said, "You could have just said that in the first place." Lavinia shot him glare.

"Let's go."

The journal safely tucked under Foldo's arm didn't do much in terms of calming nerves- which is something Foldo seems to have had a lot today.  
Dashing through the castle, Foldo and the others hoped and prayed it wasn't too late. Although, Foldo still had no idea what was going on in the first place.

Arman, Tiuri, and Lavinia stopped in front of the closed doors of the throne room.

"What are you guys doing? Trying to get each of us killed? This is what-" Foldo cut himself off as Lavinia pushed at the heavy oak doors.

"We have a meeting with her, all right? We aren't getting into trouble, but we can't wait for her, this is an emergency.

"Then why don't I know about-" This time it was Arman.

"Did we not say we would explain everything to you later? Right now, you need to trust me."

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰?

Lavinia and Tiuri worked on pushing open the doors until they went swinging, causing the two land on their noses. 

Queen Alianor did not look impressed, but the tall man stood before her seemed to as he tried fo stifle a laugh from escaping his lips. The man failed.

All heads shot to him, and Foldo nearly shit himself.

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘰?" His voice was breathy, almost as if in a dream. This couldn't be possible, Jussipo was dead. People can't just bounce back from that. It had to be someone else. Anyone else.

Yet, when Not-Jussipo's eyes met Foldo's, it was as if the world started spinning again.

Jussipo smiled at him, staring into Foldo's eyes, but said nothing. Foldo put all his sorrow and anguish into his expression, and Jussipo's smile left his face. "Do you by chance happen to obtain the journal I asked you for?" Queen Alianor spoke, breaking the building tension between them. Jussipo turned towards her.

"Right here, your majesty. My deepest apologies for barging in unannounced." Foldo pulls the journal from under his arm and gave it to her.

She then handed it to Jussipo.

"Read it, see if you can remember anything.' Her voice was barely above a whisper as if she was trying to not scare him away.

Jussipo looked down at the hardcover book before opening it and reading. Immediately, his face went beet red, and averted his gaze so that no one could see, hoping the person he wrote about was not here.

"Go on," Alianor said, "finish reading."

But he never got the chance to, because just then Red Riders had broken through the castle walls. And they were coming straight to the throne room, looking for Jussipo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I re-read this chapter and pretty much hated it, but fixed some of the more stupid mistakes so it should be nicer to read. I still might rewrite the entire chapter, though. Thanks for reading!


	4. My Name's Foldo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jussipo is a little shit who doesn't take nothing from nobody. (Except for his boyfriend whom he doesn't seem to remember)

The commotion drew nearer to the throne room doors, and Queen Alianor shifts her gaze to Foldo.

"Go! Take him somewhere safe!" She shouts, and he obeys. 

Grabbing Jussipo's hand, Foldo makes a break for the stained glass window behind them. Taking not a moment to spare, he unsheaths his sword and used the hilt to smash the window to pieces before jumping out.

They landed on bales of hay, which were not nearly as soft as they looked. Foldo barely noticed. His brain was on autopilot, he needed to make sure Jussipo would be okay. That he 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 live through this one.

They kept going, sprinting towards the trees as someone shouts in the distance, "Over there! This way!" If they could just make it to the treeline, they could lose them there.

Jussipo and Foldo never dropped hands.

With Red Riders galloping nearer with each passing second, Foldo could not take any risks. He took a few more strides before stopping at a tall tree. This should be good enough.

"Climb, now." Foldo commanded, "I'll be up in a second."

"What? No, I can help, trust me." Foldo grew antsy, they didn't have time for this.

"The queen ensured your safety with me, and I will not disobey direct orders. Now climb." After a moments hesitation and a knife was slipped discreetly into his back pocket, Jussipo caved.

Just in time too, it seemed. There were two Riders coming their way. Foldo drew his sword.

One of them- the leader, most likely- put their hand up, halting the other.

"He's mine, go help the others." Foldo couldn't believe his ears.

"What do you want, Iona?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She said, a dark smirk carved itself onto her face. "Never did get over that stupidity, did you? We want what's ours- taken by force or willing is your choice to make."

Foldo just gripped his sword tighter and Iona let out a bark of laughter. She leapt off her horse and drew out her own sword.

In an instant, she lunged at Foldo, only for him to sidestep and counter her attack. Their swords clashed with an epiphany of unspoken threats. For each attack Foldo made, Iona was coming back with two more. He was outmatched, and he knew it. But all he needed to do was keep her at bay until Jussipo was safe.

But Jussipo was most definitely 𝘯𝘰𝘵 safe. Instead of running, he took out the dagger Foldo gave him and cut away at a branch hanging below him. The battle on the ground raged on as Jussipo hit the halfway mark, and he could tell Foldo was slowing.

Jussipo remained silent, ever growing worry etched in his features as his arm moved back and forth.

After what felt like centuries, Jussipo cut through the last inch of bark, and put the dagger back in his pocket. Now all he had to do was wait.

Below the leaves, Foldo's heart was pounding and the adrenaline was starting to wear down. His sword felt heavier, and his arms were limp like noodles. Still, he pressed on, parrying and striking, until he had Iona backed up against a tree.

"If you surrender now, the queen will show you mercy. Your sentence for treason won't be as great." Iona simply said nothing, but in the blink of an eye, she took hold of a low hanging branch and catapulted herself over Foldo, landing on one knee.

She drew her sword once more and pointed it at Foldo. "As you were say-" She never got to finish her sentence, because just then Jussipo hooked his knees securely in the tree and swung down with a branch in his hand. He smacked Iona in the head with as much force as he could, and Iona crumpled with a trickle of blood running down her nose. She was out cold.

"Hurry, help me get her up, I bet the queen will want her taken to the dungeons when we get back so-" 

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦?" Jussipo looked up from Iona, and was met with a blazing fury in Foldo's eyes. "I told you not to do anything!"

Jussipo rolled his eyes. "I'm not helpless, y'know."

"It doesn't matter! I have orders from the queen to keep you safe!"

"And I have orders from myself that say I can do what I please!" Foldo kept his glare steady. "What do you think would have happened if I didn't step in? You would have gained magical powers to save yourself?" He paused to take a breath, "I'm fine, there isn't a scratch on me."

When Foldo spoke again, he was quiet. "That isn't what matters... you could have been captured or... or..." Foldo trailed off, not wanting to think about Jussipo dying, he couldn't. Not after he just got here.

Jussipo's eyes softened in understanding. "You're him, aren't you? The boy I... wrote about..." he scratched the back of his neck.

"Foldo." He extended a hand, and tried to keep his heart from falling apart. "My name is Foldo."

Jussipo shook Foldo's hand as he said, "I'm... sorry. For scaring you."

All Foldo does is nod. Together, they take Iona to the queen's guards who safely lock Iona away.

They're both ushered to a room down the hallway, where they find Lavinia, Arman, Piak, and Queen Alianor all seated at a table.

"So what you're saying is we have to track down the Red Riders in order to get Jussipo's memories back?" The queen nodded. "Why would they have them?" Lavinia asked.

"They are the ones who brought forth his new life. I overheard a few of them speaking about a mage in the dungeons. He must have Jussipo's memories."

"But how did he lose his memory? Surely if they brought him back to life he would have something."

"Necromancy has its effects, I am afraid, dear. Although memory loss is not one of them. My guess is they took them from him in order to keep him there. What a plan that was."

"So you think they stole his memories? How did they take them?"

"There is not a doubt in my mind you have more questions, but I can not answer all of them this moment. Magic will be answer enough for most of them." Lavinia sat back in her sear, unsatisfied.

"But what happens if we fail?" Jussipo piped up, and everyone around him held their breath.

The queen looked down at him with commanding eyes and an equally commanding tone. "You won't. Now go, it would be best if you got some sleep. I want you to have left by sunrise."

Foldo doesn't sleep a wink that night. Instead, he draws out various plans for the journey ahead. He finally settled on the 4th one just as the bell tower rang out 3 times. He had an hour before they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have one (1) little idea and might add at least three more chapters? It can be read without them, but I dont know what I should do with it. I also tweaked the last chapter a bit so it makes more sense with this one. Don't have to read it if you don't want.


	5. What Was I Like, Before?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iona is straight up Not having a good time, bro.

Foldo finds everyone already packed and sitting around the strategy table when he walks in.

"If we attack from here, then they'll be completely defenseless-"

"Do you think they'd surrender? Besides, the location of their camp is purely hypothetical, Arman. We still don't know where it is."

Jussipo was sitting in a corner, quietly observing with a blank face until he saw Foldo enter the room. He have him a small smile. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?

Foldo didn't return it, focusing his attention on the others instead.

"I... I know how to get to the Riders' camp." He says, and all eyes snap up to him. "We can use Iona...she can lead us there."

"And what, perchance, makes you think she'll be willing to help us? She's bad news, Foldo. Best if she stays where she is." Everyone except Jussipo nodded their heads in agreement.

"I never... she won't be doing it willingly..." silence followed his answer.

"Then what's your plan, smart guy? Because I'm willing to bet all my coin on her running away the second we let her out of that cell." Lavinia says.

Foldo tilted his head. "That's... what I'm counting on." They all look at him quizzically. "If she runs, all we have to do is follow her. She'll head straight for camp."

Tiuri was deep in thought. "And she'll agree to come with us because...?"

"She's already powerless as of now, plus a little lie never hurt anyone. Just take her as a ransom. We need something they have, we have someone they want!" Piak jumped into the conversation.

They could go back and forth like this for hours, which is exactly why Jussipo cut in.

"I think it's a splendid idea." He said, challenging a few incredulous looks with a smirk of his own. "None of us know where the Red Rider's camp is. But Iona does. So what's the problem again?"

"The problem is we might die!" Arman, always the one for pessimism.

"And if we don't do this, we 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 die." Jussipo countered.

Arman finally ran out of words to say.

"So it's settled, then? We take Iona?" Tiuri asks, and no one says a word. "Then let's go fetch her."

The group of now seven kids set out at dawn, and Iona was fuming. She did not need a wake up call at this godforsaken hour only to be told she's being turned into a traiter.

"Iona," Tiuri hissed, "Keep moving!" He yanked on the chains connected to the cuffs on her wrists. The horse she was on started to trot.

At least they had the decency to give her her horse back. If they didn't there was no telling what Iona would do. It seemed to be the only thing she loved.

They travel with Tiuri and Lavinia in front, and Jussipo, Piak, Arman, and Foldo split evenly on either side of Iona. Jussipo watches as Arman says something and Foldo let's his head fall back in laughter. 

Jussipo wanted to know more about him. But after yesterday's... incident, Foldo had made a point of being busy and it drove Jussipo mad.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺?

Despite the tension, the rare occurrences they did have to talk went well. Jussipo could've sworn he saw Foldo smile once.

As they trotted on, Iona slowly fell behind the others, inch by inch. When she was satisfied with the distance between them, she discreetly rolled up her sleeve and took out a knife she knicked from Tiuri. He never did learn how to stop pickpockets.

Keeping vigilant watch on the others, Iona tried to make her movements subtle. She cautiously brought the knife down to her horse's saddle and began to carve. Small, scratchy lines appeared in the leather, forming words if you looked hard enough.

Content with her work, she slipped the knife back up her sleeve and caught up with the others. Foldo looked back at her, and nudged his foot against Tiuri's.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They had been traveling for hours, the sun hanging low on the Western horizon when Tiuri finally halted. 

"We should set up camp here for the night. We'll get going in the morning."

Everyone got down from their horses and led them over to the river where the leads were tied to trees.

Piak went in to grab Iona's horse and do it for her, but she sneered at him and slapped his hands away.

"I've got it." Piak backed off with his hands up in the air.

But as soon as his back was turned, Iona started shouting. Her horse was halfway across the river, and gaining speed. It had escaped.

"Tiuri, get these things off me! Get her back!"

Piak stood dumbly as Tiuri shot past her and started untying his horse. But when he was finally mounted, Iona's horse had disappeared into the trees opposite them. 

Tiuri hopped back off. "There's no use going now. You'll have to ride with someone else."

"She'll ride with me. I can keep her in check." Arman said. He still wasn't convinced this was a good plan and didn't trust Iona as far as he could throw her (which to him was pretty far. He often bragged about it).

As they set up a small fire and worked out rotations, Foldo found himself sitting propped up against a log next to Jussipo. 

He tried not to think about it. Jussipo did, however, and it just about drove him over the edge.

"Are you mad at me? Because I already apologized about yesterday so I don't think there's much more I can do-"

"I'm not mad, Jussipo." He wouldn't meet the other boy's eyes, deciding rather to focus on sharpening his sword.

"Then why are you avoiding me?" The whetstone dragged along the sword's edge agonizingly slow, making high-pitched streaking sounds.

"I'm not... avoiding you. I've been busy, that's all."

"Busy because you're avoiding me." That got Foldo's attention. Just what Jussipo wanted.

"Then what do you want me to say, Jussipo? Because maybe, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, you're right about me avoiding you." 

"I want the truth, Foldo. That's all I ever wanted." Foldo's fingers fiddled with the whetstone as he went back to shearling his sword, staying silent.

"Why won't you just talk to me? Is it so hard for you to grasp that this might be hard for me, too?" Jussipo raised his voice, but kept it low enough so the others weren't alerted. "Coming back from the dead isn't easy you know. Especially when the one person I seemed to care about before all this happened I can't even remember!"

That caught Foldo off guard. Jussipo always was one for bold words, though. "You finished the journal."

"Most of it. I got the gist from the first few pages anyway." He paused, not knowing if he should go on. "But... from the looks of it, you must be one hell of a person for me to write all that." Foldo scoffed.

"Not a chance. You're just dramatic, is all."

"Well yeah, I have a right to be with my looks- don't laugh at me!"

"Then don't say ridiculous things." Foldo said in between bouts of laughter. He missed this. He missed Jussipo.

The two quieted down, the silence between them no longer strained. It felt nice.

"Can I ask you something?" Foldo gave the whetstone once last shred against his sword before turning to Jussipo. "What... what was I like? Before, I mean."

That was a loaded question, one that Foldo wasn't sure he was ready to answer. So he just said, "Get some sleep, Jussipo. There's a long day ahead tomorrow.

They both knew neither of them slept a wink that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this being boring, it's mostly a filler chapter to set things up for later. Thanks for reading!


	6. I've Been Waiting To Do That My Whole Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Riders are onto the knights' trail, and it puts everyone on edge.

They woke to hooves pounding the ground, and distant shouts could be heard from miles away.

The knights were up in seconds, swords drawn and at the ready. But as soon as thebdustant travelers' faces became clearer, they all scrambled to hide. They couldn't fight off four Red Riders alone without giving up Iona or Jussipo. They couldn't take the chance.

"Tiuri, the horses! Go!" He didn't know who said it, but he wasn't one to put up much of a fight at the moment. Lavinia went to help him. They untied their leads and guided them over to a patch of undergrowth. 

Everyone else worked on covering up anything that might leave a trail, stomping out the fire and littering leaves all around to cover up any tracks before moving to Iona.

Arman and Foldo busied themselves by uncuffing her from a nearby tree and Arman put a hand over her mouth as a safety precaution so she couldn't yell. Iona licked it.

"𝘏𝘦𝘺! You little-!" 

"Arman!" Foldo scolded him, but his voice was so low he was surprised that Arman heard him.

They all stood over next to the horses where Tiuri and Lavinia had put them out of sight, planning on waiting out the search.

But things could never be that easy, could they? Lavinia, sharp-eyed as always, was the first to spot him.

"Jussipo! What are you doing? Get over here!" She whisper-shouted, but Jussipo couldn't hear her. He just kept walking towards the Riders, who were closing in fast.

He looked... different, Foldo noted. Almost as if he was in a trance. Face slacked and arms hanging. He walked like someone was teaching him how.

Foldo started for Jussipo, but Lavinia had other plans. Not wanting to risk giving up their unknown presence, shut put an arm out to stop him.

He looked at her before shoving her arm to the side and ran, Piak hot on his heels.

"Jussipo, hey. Look at me." Foldo caught up to him, and was desperately trying to snap him out of whatever this was. "Jussipo, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. C'mon!" Nothing he said seemed to work. He tried to pull Jussipo back, only to get pushed forcefully off to the side. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨?

"Move, Foldo. I have an idea." Foldo was about to ask what it was when all of a sudden Piak threw back his arm and connected his fist with Jussipo's jaw, and Jussipo crumpled to the ground. Oh, they did not have time for this.

"Did you just... punch him?" For such a little person he packs a big hit.

"What? I've been waiting to do that my whole life." Piak said, and Foldo shook his head as he grabbed one of Jussipo's arms and swung it over his shoulder.

Together, they get on with bringing him back to their place in the brush, but as they were just about to reach their false sense of security, Foldo's foot caught on a root sticking up out of the ground.

He fell with a thud, and it took everything in Piak to hold Jussipo all on his own. 

The Red Riders caught wind of the commotion, and their leader motioned to his followers. They were headed straight for the knights.

Without a moment's hesitation, Lavinia peeks out from behind a trunk and concentrates. Tiuri put a hand on her shoulder as she closes her eyes and mutters something under her breath.

Not a moment later, pounding footsteps could be heard a ways to their left, followed by the sound of rustling leaves and not-so-quiet whispers. Alerted, the Riders turn away from the group's direction and bound after the noise.

No one dares move for several minutes after they're gone. Except for Iona, of course, who's been struggling with her restraints the entire time. Arman's hand is still up against her mouth, so she does the most foul thing she can think of and bites down.

Flinging his arm back to cradle his fingers, Arman howled.

"Oh save it, will you?" Everyone was looking between the two of them in confusion.

"You-you bit me!"

"Yeah, and? I'll do it again if you don't shut up." Iona grimaced. "You're more annoying than the Riders. Just as stupid, too." She tacks that last bit on for good measure.

"Both of you, shut up. Don't you think we have more pressing matters to discuss right now?" Tiuri gestured to Jussipo with a worried Piak hunched over him.

"What are we going to do?"

Apparently, what they were going to do was stick him with Foldo as they rode, and Lavinia would occasionally force him to sleep if he ever began to stir. 

Meanwhile, Arman shot query after query at Iona with rapid speed.

"For the last time, I don't know anything about this! What makes you think they would tell me in the first place?" Iona was seething, already getting fed up with this, and quick. Arman scoffs.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that they sent you specifically to get him?" Iona rolls her eyes.

"Except they didn't just send me. They sent a retriever team out and I was one of the members."

"But then... who sent you after-"

"𝘌𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. I am done with this! Do you honestly think I know anything? Besides, whoever's in charge keeps a low profile, I've never even seen him." She gritted her teeth, but remained calm. They rode in uneasiness the rest of the day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As the sun dipped, they stopped once more, and Lavinia eased off Jussipo who immediately let out a groan.

Foldo was by his side in a heartbeat, a supporting hand against his back.

"Easy... easy now." He got another groan in response and worry crept its way into his brain.

"Don' fuss too much, 'll mess up my hair." Jussipo's words slurred a bit from weariness as he opened his eyes. 

Foldo smiled. At least he seemed himself. "How are you feeling?" He guided Jussipo over to a spot on the ground next to the fire.

"'M fine. Never better." He winces before speaking again. "Suspect I'll need a wash before getting my charming good looks back, though." Foldo playfully smacked him on the shoulder.

With Jussipo seemingly all right and secure, their night went on. They were keeping watch in shifts, and Foldo's was first. He sat next to Jussipo as everyone drifted off.

"Is this going to become a nightly occurrence? I won't be complaining but I'll need at least a month in advance to prepare."

"Depends on how much you try to scare us each day, idiot."

"I'll take that as a yes then, I aim to confuse." Foldo took in his figure. He was joking, yes, but today really 𝘥𝘪𝘥 scare Foldo. Besides, no one even knows what happened out there.

"Do you remember anything from today? When you were..." he trailed off, not knowing how to phrase what he was trying to say.

"I wish I could, but it was like I was in a trance. And the haze enhanced the closer I came to the Riders."

"But you don't know why?" Jussipo shook his head and sighed.

The conversation dropped and they sat like that for a while, bathing in the glow of the fire. They kept each other company. Occasionally, Foldo would glance over at Jussipo, who would catch him and smile.

It all felt very... domestic to Foldo and he didn't know how to feel about it. His heart seemed to like it, at least.

He was the first to break the calm by mustering up his courage and saying, "You played the lute. Before all this happened. Do you remember that?"

"Did I really? Sounds like me. Annoying." Jussipo looked down at his hands, like he could will them to conjure up these memories.

"You could sing, too." Foldo gave a soft smile that wrinkled the edges of his eyes. "You used to sing this one song over and over again- nearly drove all of us mad." Jussipo chuckled.

"What else was there?" Foldo acted like he was in thought.

"Every time you sang, it was like everything else went silent." He watched for a reaction. "You sounded so much like a screaming mule that they all got confused." Jussipo's eyebrows furrowed. They stared at each other.

"I was serious."

"So was I." A mischievous glint worked itself into Foldo's eyes.

"Shut up." They both paused again as Foldo seemed to swallow down his feelings.

"...You were kind. And brave. You knew that there was every chance you would die going on that mission, and yet you went anyway. Although, you said yourself you never really thought so I guess you must've been stupid, too."

"Do you ever stop?" Jussipo asked, though he didn't sound patronizing.

"Not when it's you, no."

They kept on talking, and the conversation never faltered. Eventually, when Foldo caught Jussipo trying to hide a yawn, they broke apart.

Foldo went to go wake Tiuri, who had agreed to the second watch shift. As Foldo made his way back to Jussipo, he found that he was already half-asleep.

Carefully, Foldo weaved his arms around Jussipo, and rested his chin against his head. Jussipo stirred.

"Fol, 'f you tell 'nyone 'bout this, yer dead." He muttered and Foldo bit back a laugh. They stayed together like that for the rest of the night.

It was the first good night's sleep Foldo had since Jussipo died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two bros, sitting by a fire. Zero feet apart 'cause they are gay.


	7. Magic Can Explain A Lot, Apparently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavinia finally figures out what the hell is going on.

Jussipo woke in the night to a strange feeling of a person wrapped around him. It wasn't a bad strange, he thought. But rather... comforting, in an odd way.

He found himself relaxing into the embrace as time went on, going as far as putting a warm hand against Foldo's around his waist. Foldo, barely awake, merely snuggled closer to Jussipo, and intertwined their fingers. Jussipo smiled as he closed his eyes again, and fell back into a light slumber.

Iona watched the interaction unfold a few feet away, and had to restrain herself from snickering.

𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For once, everyone woke peacefully on their own terms. But as soon as they were all up, it was time to head out. Gathering up their things no one noticed Foldo step closer to Jussipo's ear and whisper something while simultaneously hooking his pinkie with Jussipo's.

Jussipo batted it away, but Foldo just laughed at the crimson tinted forming on his skin.

When they left, the formation changed. Instead of Piak riding on the left, he found himself being replaced by Foldo, and Jussipo was grateful.

Arman and Piak pretended not to notice.

"We need to hurry, there's a town a ways ahead and I want to get there by nightfall. We need a decent night's rest for once." Tiuri said. None of them objected.

As they rode, Jussipo busied himself by annoying everyone around him.

"So, I heard I used to sing." They all turned their heads towards him. All except Foldo, who instead looked down at his saddle in shame.

Jussipo stopped for a second to pull something out of his saddlebag like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭. He started up a trot again as he used one hand to flick through the pages, finally stopping somewhere near the middle. 

"Now my good friend Foldo, here-" their gazes shot between the two of them, not exactly sure who they loathed more at the moment. "-has enlightened me to my old ways. He has informed me- to my greatest pleasure- that this song in particular used to drive you all mad. So, without further ado..." they finally settled on Foldo, and he sighed in defeat.

"Young knights, their swords were gleaming..." and Jussipo began to sing. It was off beat and hoarse, his voice not used to the foreign feeling. 

"I swear to all things Holy, Jussipo. I can and will tear out your throat if you don't 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱." Jussipo swiveled his body towards Iona.

"𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨..." she let out a puff of air, maliciousness riddled her core. But he kept on, still. 

"And the one they called Jussipo was their king." Finishing, he smiled wide.

"Was that close to the original?" He asked, directed more at Foldo then anyone else.

"Not a chance." Piak said with a snort. "But bad enough to be passable." The others laughed as Jussipk fake-pouted, and Foldo patted one of his hands.

And so they went. Jussipo singing ballads from his journal, Iona and Arman threatening him with fates worse than death, and everyone joking around like the kids they really were.

Secretly, the knights were glad Jussipo was singing again. It felt... normal- like old times. As if he had never actually gone.

The group of seven rode like that for hours, but gained speed with reaching passing minute when the town was in sight.

Stabling their horses, they left Arman there with Iona to make sure she didn't cause them trouble as they walked through the town.

The houses were small, but seemingly comfortable and warm. Inviting. Piak noses his way to a window of one, where he finds a family of four-much like his- sitting around a fire talking an laughing. They never once looked as if their family was melancholy or grief-stricken and that gave Piak a sense of jealousy.

His family would never be able to have that again. Not like they used to, anyway.

"Piak! What are you doing? Let's go." Piak ran to catch up with the others, a heavy heart now heavier in his chest.

They located the inn, and for 5 crowns each, the owner would let them stay the night. Lavinia quirked her face.

"We don' get many travelers comin' through 'ere, so it'd be best for yeh to take what yeh can get." They obliged, eventually, but not before haggling with the owner he came close to throwing them out on multiple occasions thanks to their outrage.

"Go get Arman and Iona, Lavinia." Tiuri told her, and off she went- but what she found made her stomach drop to the floor.

Arman was propped up against a tree, but upon further inspection, Lavinia found that his eyes had gone blank, face slacked, and his hands were tied together behind his back.

His sword was nowhere to be found, nor Iona neither. Panick began to set in as Lavinia worked on the knots weaved between Arman's hands. But just as the last one loosened, he stood up.

Back straight, face void of emotion, and stumping over his feet, Arman was not in good shape. 

In a moment, Lavinia found that, just like Jussipo, Arman seemed to be in a daze. She couldn't begin to understand why, running through all the Red Rider's tricks in her mind.

But then, something came to her, like a constant tugging. "The man in charge keeps a low profile." It says, or something along the line of that, Lavinia could barely hear it. But there was no denying whose voice it was. Iona's.

The Riders were under new management, and that meant a whole lot of surprises and challenges for the knights of Dagonaut.

With that knowledge, the puzzle pieces surrounding the mystery seemed to fall into place before Lavinia's eyes.

Magic. Their new leader was a mage. Arman and Jussipo were put under some magical trance and possibly others, too.

But Lavinia couldn't fret over that right now. Instead, she focused her energy onto Arman. Magic was something she could deal with. And remembering her training, Lavinia knew that trance spells weren't strong.

As she willed her power to the surface, she whispered a reversal and the light began to glow. It consumed her and Arman and the space around them. And just as she was goning down, sure the effects had run their course, she felt a strong presence coming from within Arman.

It was dark, she could tell that. But what she didn't know was why the reversal wasn't working. Trances could be enhanced of course, but to this extent? Someone had been practicing, perfecting this for a long, long time. Lavinia didn't know this was possible. It was only spoken about in ancient folktales to scare children.

She tried again, this time with more concentration, more willpower. And just as she started to tire, the light began to darken, she saw a flash of color return to Arman's features before going dark.

It was working. As Lavinia tried for a third and final time, she threw herself into the reversal and her eyes glowed gold. She shouted out the reversal and the engulfed more and more with each passing second. Arman seemed to be struggling. The life would return to him only for it to fade once more and they carried on like that.

Lavinia's concentration hardened even more as she stepped closer to Arman, putting every last drop of everything she had in her towards the reversal.

And it paid off. As soon as Lavinia was about to give out, Arman snapped back to life, and the magic disappeared into the night.

When Arman regained his balance, he looked at Lavinia with mild curiosity and confusion.

"Who are you and what just happened?"

Back at the inn, everyone had settled into their rooms, but decided to all congregate in one for each other's company.

There wasn't much they could do, except sit around and watch bugs crawl along the walls so Piak piped up.

"Tell us a story, Foldo. Please?"

Foldo looked him up and down, getting ready to speak. But before he could even open his mouth, Lavinia burst through the door, panting, with Arman in tow.

"Where's Iona?" Tiuri asked and Lavinia shook her head.

"Don't know, but we have a bigger problem than that."

She rehashed the events of the night to the four sitting in front around her. And when she finished, the room was disturbingly calm.

"So... what you're saying," Foldo starts. "Is that... Arman... was acting like Jussipo yesterday in the woods?" Lavinia nodded.

"He can't remember anything, not even his name." They all looked to Jussipo.

"I couldn't remember mine either. The Riders assigned me one the day I... woke up."

"Then how did you know your real name?"

"There was a lady who would come in and out per the kings orders to check on the camp every so often. She seemed to recognize me, even if I didn't her. She told me then."

"And you believed her?" 

"Well, she was telling the truth, was she not? Or do I have another name you all have been hiding from me?"

"Guess not, but Arman- he doesn't remember anything... was that-"

"Yes." Jussipo cut her off. "It was like I had been... born again. No memories, no thoughts, just aimless wandering."

Lavinia and Jussipowent back and forth like that for awhile until they grew tired. It was early into the morning when they decided to call it a night. Everyone went to their respective rooms, and Lavinia guided Arman to his.

They talked as they went, andavinia explained their mission to him. How they were on their way to get Jussipo's memories back, and how they could do the same for him, too. This made Arman smile.

"I'll be back to normal, then?"

"Should be. I'm still not familiar with how the process works but-" as they rounded the corner, something hit Lavinia in the side of the head- hard, and Arman went rigid once more. 

Lavinia started to fall, but Iona caught her just in time with a single hand. The other clutches an orb the size of a finger. Pictures seemed to move in and out of focus within it, and it seemed that they were all of Arman's memories.

Iona smiled a ghastly grin as she put the orb safely in a satchel and dragged Lavinia's body to a trash can and dumped her in. Arman followed, blindly. With that done, she went off to find Jussipo.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰.

Jussipo was lying in his bed, tossing a sack of coin up in the air to catch it before it could fall on his head. A series of jangling sounds followed by "ow"s could be heard through the door.

He wasn't very good at this game.

A knock sounded throughout the room and startled Jussipo. A moment later, the sack fell down onto his face.

Rubbing his nose, Jussipo got to the door and opened it, but no one was standing there.

Before he could call out, Iona rounded on him with a different orb in hand. Uttering a few words that didn't make any sense to Jussipo, he found himself slipping away into unconsciousness. Into a haze.

Quietly and quickly as she came in, Iona left. This time, two boys trailing behind her, and no one in the building was any wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did they have trash cans in medieval times? Or were they still dumping trash out onto the streets? Either way, thanks for reading!


	8. Do You Think We'll Be Okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both sides start preparing for the troubling times ahead.

Lavinia felt like she was in a dream. A painful dream where she was scrunched in a barrel with a throbbing head.

In other words, it was dark and disorienting, and Lavinia ached all over. She struggled to un-twist herself out of the position she was in to be able to lift the lid up.

When she finally, got out, her surroundings were fuzzy, and everything seemed to spin. She felt like vomiting, but Lavinia kept on, stumbling left and right like a drunkard. She was searching for Tiuri's room.

Bursting through the door to what Lavinia was 80 percent sure was Tiuri's room, she staggered over to Tiuri's bed and ripped the sheets off of him. Tiuri screamed.

"Calm down, it's just me!" Lavinia shushed him, but he didn't relax.

"What are you doing in here? We don't leave for another-" Tiuri looked out the window at the rising sun barely reaching the horizon. "- at least a few more hours."

"Arman's in danger, and I'm pretty sure Jussipo is, too." Tiuri's eyes widened. "We need to hurry. Go get everyone up while I check in with the horses." With that said, Lavinia rushed as fast as she could- which wasn't very fast- down to the stables, where she found that a single horse was left.

"Oh, you've got to be 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 me."

As Lavinia deals with the horse debacle, tiuri was busy with chaotically getting the others up. He sprinted through the halls, banging on doors and shouting at his friend to get up before moving onto the next one.

As he reached Arman's and Jussipo's rooms, he opened the doors instead, after finding them unlocked. He glanced quickly around each one, but found no sign that either of them had been there. Lavinia was right.

Closing the door to Jussipo's room, Tiuri was surprised by Foldo who had appeared out of thin air behind him.

"Where's Jussipo?" He asked.

"I don't know." It wasn't a full truth, Tiuri did know where Jussipo was headed, but didn't want to tell Foldo that. It was better than saying he might already be dead again.

But Foldo seemed to understand anyway, his face taking on a darker look. "So what are we going to do?"

Tiuri, filled with fear and concern for everyone's wellbeing simply said again, "I don't know. But we're getting them back, Foldo. I promise." Foldo looked at his with sincerity in his eyes and repeated Tiuri.

"We'll get them back."

"I have the delivery you wanted." Iona stood just outside the tent, waiting for a response. None came. "Sir? The... new recruits you requested are here. I've got them."

A gruff response came from inside that said, "That wasn't the deal. There should only be one."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly do that, could I? Thanks to you sending more Riders after me. That wasn't the deal either, you know." The voice inside sighed, and walked towards the entrance.

'Give them here, I'll deal with it."

"How much farther do we have to go?" Piak asked, already tired of walking.

"We already told you, we're switching off with the horse. You have to wait." Tiuri said, guilitly. It was easy for him to say, 𝘩𝘦 wasn't the one who had walked for several miles yet.

"Yeah, but how long do I have to wait for? I'm 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 here."

"We can now, if you stop complaining." Tiuri began to get down, but Lavinia stopped him.

"What? It's no big deal, really."

"You know Ardanwen won't let anyone ride him but you."

"He let's you ride him, doesn't he?"

"Only when you are, too. I'll walk, you stay on." Lavinia hops down as Piak gets up on the other side.

But Ardanwen didn't like that. He starts bucking up and down, waiting for Piak to get off before he does it for him. Piak obliges without further prompting, before any real damage can be done. Lavinia gets back on.

"I'm sorry, Piak. I didn't know he would react like that. He's usually good with other with me..." Tiuri trailed off.

"'S fine. I'd rather my feet hurt than be on the back of 𝘩𝘪𝘮 and face the consequences." Ardanwen let out an audible exhale, letting Piak know he heard that.

Piak took a step from the horse, and their journey continued.

The Red Riders were preparing for their oncoming visitors. At any given moment, there was something going on. A weapon needed mending, armor had to be polished, stables mucked. Every Rider had something to do. Everyone except Iona.

"You know, I really don't see the purpose in doing this." She said, standing next to the dozens of orbs in a wooden case. "What's the point of guarding these things if they aren't even here yet?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to not." The man who answered her word a cloak covering his face. Although, he didn't need to because there was a cloud of smoke covering it already. He seemed to not want anyone to recognize him.

Whoever he was, Iona didn't care. "Then why don't 𝘺𝘰𝘶 do this, and let 𝘮𝘦 go do something useful?"

"This is useful. Useful at keeping you out of the way and out of trouble. Now shut your mouth and let me work."

"But you aren't even doing anything-" she stood to be corrected. For just then, the smoke-shrouded man placed a daisy on the table, and uttered something to himself. Slowly but surely, the flower began to wilt right before their eyes.

It took awhile, but the flower eventually curled into itself and sat dead on the table. Iona stared in wonder and shock at the sheer power of it all.

"What're you gonna use that for?" The man looked over at her.

At least, Iona thought he did. It was hard to tell sometimes what with the cloud and cloak.

"Didn't I tell you to 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, girl?"

With that comment, the man left the tent, and Iona went on staring at the flower- already starting the process of decay.

As the knights reached the Red Rider's camp, they slowed to a stop. It was getting dark, and they were exhausted from the mental stress put on them that day.

Not to mention their feet were killing them.

"We'll go in the morning, yeah?" Tiuri said, phrasing it in a way that made it sound more like an order than a question.

They found a freshwater pond a significant ways away from the camp and decided to sleep there for the night. Gathering some cattails and weeds from the edges of the pond with the glint of their swords, they tried to light a fire, but the sun had already set. There was no use trying now.

They would just have to tough out the cold weather tonight.

No one talked for a long time, and everyone was grateful for the silence. None of them wanted to think about what lied ahead of them just several meters away from where they sat.

Piak, ever the optimist, had to bring it up. "Do you think we'll all be all right? Us, Arman... Jussipo. Will we be okay?" He looked up with eyes full of torment. He couldn't lose another person, not just after he got one back.

Foldo doesn't even hesitate when he answers. "Of course we will. We're knights with a mage on our side. How could we not?" He gave a small nod and a reassuring smile to Piak, who seemed to be satisfied with that.

Tiuri leans in close to Foldo. "Do you seriously think that?" He says in a low voice.

"Not at all. But he needs to think that. Needs the hope." Foldo responds and Tiuri leans back.

None of them slept a wink that night, save for Piak. Even so, no one said anything and that felt wrong to Foldo.

There was no Jussipo there to crack a joke to make them all roll their eyes, ir break out into a bad rendition of an old song.

There was no Arman here to tell Jussipo off for it, either. It didn't feel right.

Foldo spent his night like this, mulling over about how lucky he was to have Jussipo back and how much he took that for granted.

How he had the best person in the world right by his side, but didn't realize until he was gone. He thought about how much he loved Jussipo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another filler chapter for you, but I've been informed that you guys seem to like them so that's good. Thanks for reading!


	9. Foldo Couldn't Believe This Was Happening Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The knights are very bad at planning attacks. Chaos ensues.

The knights woke Piak at dawn as the Red Riders were starting to stir as well.

They sat huddled together with a sleepy Piak, trying to figure out an attack plan. None of the strategies seemed to work.

The seconds turned to minutes which turned to an hour before they finally came about on the 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 work. It was crazy, but it had potential.

"What if we have Lavinia knock them out long enough to where we can sneak in and grab Jussipo's memory, him, and Arman and get out." Tiuri suggested.

"We need both their memories now, remember?" Lavinia said. "But I-I don't think it'll work, Tiuri." 

"Why not? All you have to do is keep up your power for a quick second as we run in and out. I've seen you use more magic-"

"Because they have a mage on their side, too." Everyone looked at her in disbelief.

"And your... you thought it would be a-a good idea to tell us this... now?" Foldo asked.

"I didn't want to worry anyone, you were all so out of it yesterday I didn't think-"

"Of course you didn't." Foldo said, coldly. Piak and Tiuri just looked at each other and said nothing.

"So... what are we gonna do?" Piak asked meekly.

"My plan could still work, you know." Tiuri turned to Lavinia. "You can still put everyone to sleep, right? She nodded. "So all we have to do is sneak extra carefully to find everything, that's all."

"Are you 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨?" Foldo interjected. "𝘜𝘴 go against a mage that we know nothing about? We'll die if we do this!" 

"And 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 die if we don't." Tiuri said, using Foldo's own words against him. Foldo looked away and huffed.

"Look, Foldo," Tiuir started. "I know you're scared, okay? We all are. But we need to do whatever it takes to get them back, and right now? This is the best bet we have."

Foldo looks over to the camp and then to the people around him. He sighs and runs a hand over his face.

"What... what do I have to do?"

They took their time strategizing. Smoothing out every kink, planning it all down to the last minute detail. They even came up with a plan B, although they didn't think they would need it.

If only they knew how wrong they were.

"Let us go, Iona!" Jussipo tried to say, but he couldn't. The mage had put a silencer on him after the 5th time of breaking out into song in Hope's to annoy his way to freedom. It didn't work.

And since he couldn't do any of that, he settled for playing with his restraints. Arman opted for struggling against them, thrashing his hand every which way as if he were to do it fast enough they would slip off.

"𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?" Iona seethed at them. It seemed to intimidate them quite successfully, because they did stop.

Jussipo took in the tent's insides. It was nothing real spectacular, it was rather messy, actually. 

Open trunks were all over the floor, and the cot was a tangle of sheets covered in sweat. There was also the smell of what Jussipo could only describe as rotting animals that hung in the air. 

Jussipo crinkled his nose and looked to his left, where he finally found something useful. A small piece of sharp wood from a broken trunk sat just out of reach. All Jssuipo had to do was wait to get to it, and he would be free.

He just hoped he would last long enough, but it seemed like he couldn't. As he was scheming up his escape, Jussipo felt himself grow tired, getting sleepier and sleepier until both him and Arman were both out like lights.

Iona watched them in a puzzled state before walking over, kicking them both in the stomachs and yelling, "Oh, get up you lazy-" but she never forgot to finish her sentence because she, too, had just fallen into a deep, magical sleep.

"Good, just like that. Hold steady, Lavinia." Tiuri said as he peered around a corner and into the heart of the camp. There were Riders splayed at on the ground and others propped up on tent poles they'd fallen against.

The site was seemingly empty to any onlooker, but the knights knew better. There was a sinister force lurking somewhere close, and they had to be careful.

The boys put Lavinia in hidden spot, her eyes closed in concentration before they went off in search of their friends.

"I'll go right, Piak will go left, and Foldo will go straight." Tiuri said and the other two nodded.

Foldo starts front to back, starting with the smaller tents. But mentally kicks himself when after coming out of a tent only to see a much bigger one set up in the back.

Foldo rushes over, threw open the flaps and almost laughed in relief.

There was Jussipo, Arman, and Iona all asleep in a row. He stepped over Iona and began ransacking the tent for the orbs Lavinia had spoke of. But midway through his search, Foldo heard a voice behind him clear its throat. He felt eh hair on the back of his neck stand up, and the room go cold. Magic.

"Looking for these?" Foldo went rigid. The man who stood in front of him was shadowed with smoke, and he had a satchel open on his hip that revealed dozens of orbs. But that wasn't what shocked Foldo, no.

What shocked him was that he had an unconscious Lavinia imprisoned in his hold.

At any moment, he knew the Riders would be waking up, and the knights were going to have to deal with it.

"Piak, I thought I told you to go left." Tiuri scolded him, but Piak just shrugged.

"I finished with my side, so I came over here to help."

"And you didn't find anything?" Pial shook his head. "Then go over comb through the tents near the back while I do these." Piak obeyed and scampered off. But when he did, he heard a loud clattering coming from a tent over to the left, and as he looked around, he found that the Riders were walking up.

"Tiuri, I think we have a problem!"

"What is- woah!" Tiuri looked up and saw all the Riders getting up, dazed. He grabbed Piaks hand and ran to the treeline, where they had left Lavinia but found nothing.

"Where could she be?" 

"I don't know, Piak. But we have to find her." Tiuri said, taking on a somber tone. He knew what this meant for them, and only prayed that Piak didn't.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵.

Foldo stood still as the man encircled him, ignoring the groaning boys and girl on the ground. The man circled Foldo like a vulture rounding on its prey. Foldo put a steady hand on his sword.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Foldo just glared at where he thought the man's eyes to be. He brought a knife to Lavinia's neck in retaliation. Foldo took his hand off the sword.

It was then that Iona groggily sat up, and looked around. Seeing the mage, she jumped up- however dizzy- and drew her knife from her pocket and pointed it at Foldo.

"Stand down, child, and go check on the others." That made Foldo's blood run cold. He knew there were more than just Foldo.

Iona left, and the man returned his attention to Foldo, ignoring the two still on the waking up on the ground.

"Where were we? Oh, yes. You need this, don't you?" He rummaged through the bag before pulling out a single orb. Jussipo's memories.

Foldo's breath hitched, and he could feel the man's smirk through his cloud.

"I'll give it to you." Foldo narrowed his eyes, prompting the man to keep going who smirked again in response. "For a price, of course. Call it a... trade of sorts." Jussipo was now fully awake, Arman not far behind. They both watched display play out before them.

"You'll take the-" the man gestured vaguely to Jussipo. "-annoying one. And we'll take the soldier. What's his name again- Arman. Arman. We'll take him."

"You're not taking anyone." Foldo said, expecting a fight, but the man shook his head.

"Such a shame. But if you're sure..." with the wave of a hand, the man whispered a spell, and duplicates of himself appeared around the room. Jussipo and Arman threw themselves back in surprise. This was just the distraction Jussipo needed. 

As everyone was busy gawking at the copies, Jussipo reached for the piece of jagged wood now in his close vicinity. 

With a slight hand, he carefully scooped it up and put it behind his back, pointed towards the rope. He began to wiggle his hands any which way he could, and the rope began to cut.

As he did this, he turned back into the conversation happening between the man and Foldo.

The man's duplicates had Foldo cornered, and Foldo was having none of it. Attempting to take his draw his sword, Foldo grasped over air. His sword was gone, taken by a copy when the others had distracted him.

"Looking for this?" The man took the Foldo's weapon out from behind his back. "Are you positive you don't want to take the deal? It would be in your best interests you know. If you don't I may as well kill you." The man was running his finger along the blade menacingly. It had no effect on Foldo.

"I said no." The man cocked his head to the side.

"Well that settles it, then. Death it is." He waved his hand again so all the duplicates disappeared. All except one, who had been holding Foldo's hands behind his back.

Ominously, he glided over to Foldo, sword in hand. Agonizingly slow, he pulled back his arm as Foldo stared at the ground, accepting his fate.

"Look me in the eyes, boy." The man said. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴." In a last stance of defiance, Foldo closed them.

Snarling, the man thrust the sword right into the boy's side without any hesitation. But it wasn't Foldo who was wounded this time around.

It was Jussipo. He had gotten his ropes cut just in time to step in at the last second. He took Foldo's place.

Jussipo fell to his knees with a sickening thud, hand over his side, barely able to hear the screams of Foldo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely forgot about Lavinia in this chapter. You have no idea how many times I had to rewrite something because I forgot Lavinia is a character that really does exist. Thanks for reading!


	10. A Loss On One Side Doesn't Mean A Win On The Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jussipo is still dying, but they've got Bigger Things to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I procrastinated writing this by watching Brian David Gilbert. I have zero (0) regrets.

"Lavinia!" Tiuri yelled out.

"𝘓𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢!" Piak copied.

They walk in small circles as if they could spot her going round the three hundredth time as opposed to the two hundred ninety-ninth.

It didn't work, though, so they ended up having to slink their way through the Red Riders passed out on the ground, who were beginning to rouse.

They didn't have to slink far, because just as they reached the first tent to search, Tiuri and Piak heard an ear-piercing "𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘰!" coming from a tent a little ways away.

Piak paled.

Foldo kneeled over Jussipo's dying body, and the mage merely watched him, bored.

"Such a shame. I hadn't intended for anything to happen to him." He said, but Foldo wasn't listening. "Although in hindsight, I should have planned on it. The boy was a nuisance." Foldo kept ignoring him, focusing everything he had on Jussipo.

Arman sat mortified at the irony of it all, but his attention wasn't drawn to his friend on the ground for very long. 

All of a sudden, Iona came striding through the tent's entrance, dragging two unconscious bodies behind her. Tiuri and Piak.

The sight nearly broke Foldo, who currently was the oy one on their side still standing (not litterally).

"I found them creeping around back by the South edge. What do you want me to do with them?" She informed the mage. He shrugged.

"Tie them up with the others." He said before pointing at Foldo and adding, "Him, too."

Foldo barely had time to register what was happening and quite too upset to do anything about it anyway. Soon enough, he felt himself grow weary.

As a last bit of defiance, he glared at the mage before falling asleep, still clutching Jussipo's body.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Jussipo, come on." The knights minus Lavinia were all tied together, and were left alone in the tent to wake up. "Jussipo, please, 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱."

Foldo was hunched over an comatose Jussipo who was still bleeding out from his stomach. Foldo was terrified he would never open his eyes again.

"There's no use, Foldo." Arman said. "Awake or not he won't be able to help us either way."

"Besides, we need to focus on on finding Lavinia. She's our best shot at getting out of here." Tiuri said, although with more remorse than Arman.

Foldo, realizing they were right, sat upright. But he didn't leave Jussipo's side.

"We need to come up with a plan, and do it fast."

"Yeah, because our plans so far have worked out real well." Piak scoffs, yet Tiuri remains patient.

"If we get to her, we can put an end to all of this. We just need to figure out how."

Piak spoke up again. "That's never going to work. We don't know where she is or who's with her." He says, and then it was Arman's turn to chime in.

"For all we know, she could be under the image's influence."

"But she has magic, too." Tiuri argued. "Can't she counter spells or something?"

"We don't know how strong she is compared to him. But even if we did, how would we safely get to her?" Piak said.

"Well maybe we could-"

"Let's just focus on getting out of these confines first, Tiuri. Then we'll worry about finer details."

"Then how do we go about these?" Tiuri asked, holding up his hands. Arman held up a hand.

"Foldo, you with us?"

"Foldo?" Piak extended a foot to his side and gave it a slight nudge to startle him.

"What? Yeah- yeah. I'm... ready?" Foldo had absolutely no idea about what was going on.

"We all have to huddle together, and two people will work on each other's ties. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Satisfied, Tiuri and the rest all shuffled over to Foldo, and Piak held out his hands to him and decide to make not-so-light conversation.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" He asks and Foldo's breath catches in his throat. Oh god. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

And Foldo- always one to lift Piak's spirits- simply goes, "Yes, Piak... he'll be alright."

Foldo doesn't add the "but 𝘸𝘦 probably won't" part on the end.

Meanwhile, Lavinia is having a much harder time.

"Come now, it won't hurt, not even a little bit." The mage walked up to her as she struggled against Iona, who was making sure the magic that was holding Lavinia in place stayed intact.

"𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰." She shot at him.

"And 𝘐 said you didn't have a choice in the matter. So don't make me repeat myself." He sneered into the smoke, even if Lavinia couldn't see it.

He leaned down to her height. "Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?" Lavinia found that she couldn't accurately spit into the man's eye, so she opted for sitting on his shoes instead.

"Guess that's decided, then. The mage said, and clapped his hands together- a gesture of a summoning.

But as the Red Riders appeared around them, Lavinia felt something in his magic shift and weaken as the man focused more on the summoning. Lavinia took the opportunity.

Murmuring a quick counter to herself, Lavinia weakened the suspending spell, but it wasn't enough.

With one last burst of energy, Lavinia broke free of the man's magic, much to his disbelief.

He recovered quickly. "You're stronger than I thought, girl. Very impressive." He rubbed his hands together like a person would expect a villain to do. "But it's time to see what you can really do." 

At that moment, the knights came rushing over, save for Jussipo who was left still unconscious in the tent. The knights skidded to a halt as they eyed their enemy. The mage looked at Lavinia, to the boys, then back at Lavinia.

"Well... isn't this just charming?" He turned to the Riders, and in a downright nauseating, serious tone said, "Kill them."

Immediately, they all drew their swords, and relished in the last few moments of peace.

The cold breeze that was blowing through, the magnificent castle standing tall in the distance. The sound of absolute silence as everything seemed to freeze, charging with electricity.

Then without a word, the two sides ran towards each other. The battle began.

There wasn't a point in time where someone wasn't fighting another. Swords clashed and clattered out of people's hands, defeated. But as soon as one person was down, they got right back up again and resumed the fight. Each side was determined to win.

All too soon, the mage swiveled back to Lavinia, giving her his full attention.

"Where were we?" But he didn't wait for an answer. Rather, he blasted Lavinia backwards with a snap of the fingers, catching her by surprise. Lavinia vowed it wouldn't happen again.

She fought back with just as much force and vigor, sprouting spells and counters from her lips as fast as she could. Her movements were routine, and felt comforting in the midst of the chaos. 

She pretended she was home, doing simple tricks of light instead of masterful, complicated magic. It calmed her.

As the two battles waged, the sky darkened, storm clouds formed overhead and the birds stopped singing. All that could be heard was the yells and grunts between knights and Riders. The whispers and shouts of the two mages.

Their vision wasit up by the light of the magic that surrounded them. Blues, oranges, purples, and more lot up the dreary sky as the rain came pelting down.

But they kept on fighting.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No one can say how long their assault had lasted, but each side began to tire and slow, wanting to succumb to the sweet, lazy feeling of giving up. But they couldn't.

The knights knew in their hearts they were overpowered, but they valiantly slashed through the Riders, still.

But then, something nothing short of a miracle happened. The light from Lavinia's magic started to shift and take shape. The Rider's and knights paid no attention, but the mage did.

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?" He said.

And that was his fatal mistake. Because as soon as he stopped throwing curses Lavinia's way, she put everything she had into the light, concentrating hard on who she wanted to hit.

And then she released it. The light engulfed the camp site, and threw every Rider- including the mage- back with what felt like the force of a thousand men. But it had come and gone in a flash, leaving the smoke-clouded mage gasping for air and the Riders lying scattered, groaning.

The mage desperately clutched at the satchel containing the memories.

He stood up on shaking feet, coughing. "Don't..." he panted. "Do that..."

"You've... already lost." Lavinia said, panting as well. Tiuri, Foldo, Arman, and Piak were at her side in a second.

"Just give over the bag, there's no use in keeping it." Tiuri said. Strangely, the man laughed.

"Just because... I've lost," he says, taking the bag off his shoulder and holding it up. "Doesn't mean you... win..."

And with that said, time seemed to slow as he dropped the orbs to the ground, raised his foot...

And brought it down onto the orbs. Smashing every last one.

Foldo couldn't tell which shattered more- his heart or the memories.

Arman lunged forward, scavenging for any survivors, but came up empty handed. Filled with loathing, he stood back up and reeled his arm back, getting ready to punch the mage square in his everything.

But before he could launch his barrage, Tiuri was there, holding him back.

"It's no use, Arman. All you're going to do is add more pain."

To which Arman responded with "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥."

"Arman, please. Leave him be. We can let the king deal with him. Besides, we need to go get Jussipo." That name triggered something in Foldo.

Jussipo. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘰.

Dashing back to the tent, Foldo found Jussipo lying propped up against a shelf, eyes closed.

Pale skin, shallow breathing, and sitting in a pool of his own blood, Jussipo didn't look too good.

But Foldo swears his heart started beating all over again when Jussipo opened his eyes at Foldo and smiled. At least he was awake.

The others came in to find Foldo once more kneeling over Jussipo, fretting like a high-strung mother.

"Jussipo, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." Foldo pleaded. "You can't leave us- 𝘮𝘦. Not again..." he was crying at this point, tears streaming down his cheeks, and Piak's as well.

Jussipo was dying, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Except there was, Tiuri mused.

"Lavinia, could you heal him?"

"W-what?" Lavinia was shocked at the request, she was practically keening over. Foldo's gaze shot up to her, as did Piak's.

"I... Tiuri I don't think I can... I'm exhausted and I doubt I have any power left-" But Foldo cut her off.

"Lavinia, please. Just do it, try." 

Lavinia looked at him-all snot nosed and begging on his knees-, to Jussipo. And she understood.

"All right. But if it doesn't work-"

"It will." Foldo said, more to assure himself than anyone else. "It has to."

Jussipo listened to them bicker, and for a brief moment, he felt like he wasn't dying- but actually living. He got to hear Foldo's voice and that was enough to keep him tethered to this plane of existence. But knowing all his friends were with him, his brother. It made this warm, fuzzy feeling bubble up inside Jussipo. It felt nice and it eased the pain of his side.

And then, everything went black.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Relax, Foldo. I'm sure he'll be back to normal in a week or two. Give him time." Lavinia said, although her words had no effect on Foldo. He was too busy playing with a strand of Jussipo's hair to busy himself. He didn't think he could take another day of this let alone to weeks.

But, he reminded himself. Jussipo was safe, alive. That was the important thing.

He was on the brink of death when Lavinia had gotten him back, but right after, she collapsed. 

They had to stay at the Unuawen castle for a while as they both rested. The king had sent a letter to the queen that they should be back when both had made a full recovery.

"Are you... 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 still messing with my hair..." Foldo nearly knocked over the lamp sitting on the side table.

Jussipo was awake. And talking, though Foldo couldn't tell if that was a good or bad sign.

"Hey."

"𝘏𝘦𝘺? That's all I get after coming back from the dead?" Jussipo mumbles, still not fully awake yet.

"What would you prefer then?" Foldo asks, and he quirks his face at Jussipo.

"Come closer and I'll tell you." And Foldo obeys, leaning his ear in towards Jussipo.

But Jussipo had other plans. So, grabbing Foldo's chin and yanking him to face Jussipo, he closed his eyes and leaned forward as well until their lips connected.

Foldo melted into Jussipo's touch, and their kiss continued for several seconds. But Jussipo, seemingly satisfied, pulled away.

"That would've sufficed just fine." He said and Foldo turned red as Jussipo laughed at him.

They fell into silence after that, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Although, Jussipo's mind was reeling with questions- one more pressing than the others.

"Did we do it?" He asked. "Did we get them back?" Foldo hesitated.

"...No." he said slowly. "No, we didn't."

"Then I guess we'll just have to make new memories, then." Jussipo responded. "Starting with my new favorite, of course." And he pulled Foldo in for another quick kiss.

Despite the embarrassment from Jussipo, Foldo couldn't help but feel at home with him. Like this was where he wanted to be for the rest of his life- right next to Jussipo. And Jussipo didn't see anything wrong with that.

So they kept on talking, occasionally sharing kisses and laughing and holding hands.

In short, they lived. And even if they did fail their mission, Foldo felt himself not caring one last bit. Because no matter what, Jussipo was here, and now that he had him, Foldo was keeping him for as long as he could.

They would make new memories together- good and bad- but through everything, Foldo knew one thing: he loved Jussipo and Jussipo loved him.

And that was all that mattered, really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, there ya go- the end of this story. I have an idea for another one mainly about Foldo's stories, but I dont know how it'd format yet so there's that. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any mistakes or suggestions feel free to plop em below! Thanks for reading!


End file.
